1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of truck beds. More specifically, the invention comprises movable device attached to the bed of a truck.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many trucks are furnished with mounting systems for toolboxes or other items. In the case of a pick-up truck, those toolboxes are typically securely fastened to the bed of the truck, near the cab of the truck. Generally, the toolbox is contained within the bed of a truck and either mounted to the inside of the bed or the top edge of the bed of the truck. While the purpose of requiring tools in a user's vehicle varies, the need for tools on a work truck or other vehicle is commonly known.
A few reasons for including tools within one's vehicle are illustrated by the following. First, a toolbox (and the tools contained within the toolbox) is often required for a user's occupation. For example, a construction contractor requires tools while working on a job site. Second, many self-employed individuals or small companies require the use of tools—such as a plumber, A/C technician, etc., but often have a single work truck. Finally, many truck owners own a truck for the inherent utility accompanied with owning a truck. From this perspective, many truck owners use the truck for jobs or activities that require either tools or other outdoor gear that requires storage.
While many trucks include a mounting system for a toolbox attached to the bed of the truck, there are some drawbacks associated with that configuration due to the ideal location of the toolbox. In order to use the bed of a pick-up truck for something other than storing tools, a toolbox is often placed proximate the cab of the truck. This leaves the rest of the truck bed open for any other uses. Oftentimes, this causes the space in the center of a toolbox to be wasted. The wastefulness stems from the lack of access created by the height of the truck and the width of the truck bed. If the user reaches into the toolbox from the side of the truck, standing on the ground, he or she will typically have an issue reaching the center of the toolbox. These factors make it difficult for a user to reach the center the toolbox—causing the user to refrain from using the center or to find another approach to obtain his or her tools. Obviously, the user can climb into the bed of the truck in order to reach the center of the toolbox. However, this is difficult for user's who are older or slightly disabled (where stepping up into a truck bed is not easily accomplished or even possible).
The difficulty of stepping up into the bed of a truck does not end with obtaining tools from a toolbox. Many truck owners use the bed of the truck to haul large and/or heavy objects such as furniture, bags of mulch, bags of concrete, stones, etc. However, once the objects are loaded, it may be difficult to remove the objects for any number of reasons. For example, if large heavy objects were purchased from a home improvement store, typically, the store clerk assists the customer in the loading of said objects. Unfortunately, when the customer arrives home to unload the goods, they may not have anyone to assist them. Also, unloading is typically more difficult than loading since many objects can be tossed into the truck bed (bags of mulch and concrete). However, in order to unload those objects the owner is required to step up into the truck bed.
Therefore, what is needed is a mounting device that allows users to unload the bed of a truck and access the full capacity of any object mounted on the device. Of course, inventors have tried to achieve some of these goals. However, they fail to provide storage for a container other than a tool box. The present invention achieves this objective, as well as others that are explained in the following description.